This invention relates to a bandwidth management method for a data storage apparatus performed based on attributes of storage volumes in a computer system including a plurality of data storage apparatuses.
Information lifecycle management for managing data corresponding to a change in value of the data with a passage of time after the data is generated, has been operated in a computer system for storing the data. According to the information lifecycle management, data is managed to give priority to access to highly important data which has just been created and to suppress access to data becoming less important by a drop in access frequency with a passage of time after creation of the data. To realize the information lifecycle management, a data storage apparatus capable of responding to access from a client host computer to highly important data at a high speed and of suppressing a bandwidth for access to less important data, must be provided.
The number of pieces of data to be subjected to information lifecycle management is increasing, and these data are stored in a plurality of storage volumes of a large data storage apparatus like a disk array.
As a management method of such a large data storage apparatus, a storage system has been disclosed which includes a plurality of logical data storage apparatuses, a target device to be accessed by a host computer, and a juke box control mechanism for mapping the target device with one of the plurality of logical data storage apparatuses, and the juke box control mechanism changes the logical storage apparatus mapped with the target device according to a request from the host computer (refer to JP 2005-209149 A). According to this storage system, data different in passage of time after generation are stored in different storage volumes, and the different storage volumes can be allocated to the host computer.
There has also been disclosed a data storage apparatus which includes a storage volume capable of storing data accessed by a host computer, an access processing module for controlling data access between the host computer and the storage volume, a management interface for receiving a request of allocating the storage volume to the host computer from a management computer, a storage volume allocation module for allocating an unallocated storage volume to the host computer according to the storage volume attach request so that it can be accessed by the host computer, and a performance allocation module for allocating performance of a target module which influences data access between the host computer and the allocated storage volume (refer to JP 2005-025422 A).